Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

CHICAGO — The brother of Oscar winner Mo’Nique said Monday on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show that he molested the actress when they were children and he wants to apologize to her.

Gerald Imes said on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that the molestation continued for a year or two, starting when he was 13 and Mo’Nique was 7 or 8.

“I abused and betrayed the trust of another sibling, my sister, my blood sister,” Imes said. He apologized to the actress, saying “I’m sorry, Mo’Nique. I’m sorry.”

Imes said he decided to appear on Winfrey’s show to apologize to Mo’Nique and bring their family back together. Imes said he himself was molested and he was using drugs and alcohol at age 11.

“Hopefully somewhere, somehow as siblings we can come back together as brother and sister,” he said.

Mo’Nique has discussed her brother’s molestation in previous interviews. She hasn’t responded to a request for comment sent to her publicist. Winfrey said Mo’Nique didn’t want to be a part of the interview but gave Winfrey her blessing.

“She said if your expressing what you had done to her could save one family then it would be worth it,” Winfrey told Imes. Mo’Nique’s parents also appeared on the episode.

“It was such a heartbreaking thing to accept,” said her mother, Alice Imes.

Mo’Nique received the supporting actress Academy Award in March for her role in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

Updated 04.19.10, 1:54 p.m. – Oprah To Interview Mo’Nique’s Molesting Brother

From BlackVoices.com:

On Monday’s (April 19) episode of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show,’ the revered media maven will take the sexual-abusing sibling of Oscar winner Mo’Nique to task.

After serving 15 years in jail for another sex offense, Gerald Imes comes face to face with Winfrey during a climatic interview, which — according to a Harpo Productions spokesperson — Mo’Nique gave her blessings to.

Click here to view photos:

Although the award-winning funnywoman doesn’t appear on the show, she has been very vocal about how her eldest brother sexually molested her during her childhood years. As a matter of fact, Mo’Nique said she channeled his demons when portraying the monster mother Mary Jones in the critically-acclaimed drama ‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.’

Click here for excerpts from the interview.

RELATED:

OPINION: Mo’Nique’s Oscar Win Was “Precious”

OPINION: Public Resurgence Of “Bad Black Mother” Image Is Troubling